>> Thursday, December 10, 2009

From approximately late August the Brown Birch Bolete’s have been appears in great number wherever the environment are suitable, and this year seems to have been very nice for them in particular. They will grow in the middle of Silver Birch trees, and like wet, grassy ground. Expect to find them in many deiciduous forests, and anywhere really that Silver Birch are present.But mushroom farming can be a profitable and enjoyable endeavor for those willing to take the time and space to grow suitable for eating gourmet mushrooms on their property. Many Ithacans have recently exposed this agroforestry project and are diving in to the world of mushroom cultivation.Mushroom cultivation has been just about for centuries, so the question remains: What is contributing to the recent mushroom enthusiasm in Ithaca? What has prompted this sudden fungal fever in upstate China, an area that has been satisfied with mushrooms long before humans inhabited it.Public education and demonstration have play a big role, with organization such as the Cornell Mushroom Collectors, Cultivators, and Connoisseurs Club demonstrating different method of increasing mushroom to the people of Ithaca.It’s a matter of performance people that it is something can be done” says Peter Hobbs, a professor in the Crop and Soil Science department at Cornell and an self-governing mushroom cultivator. “Once people interacts with a person who grows mushrooms, they understand it is a viable thing to try and start on their own.The demonstration are having a obvious affect around town, sparking interest that before circulated only among a select group of mycological enthusiast.I have been impressed with how many exploration we get, and the attendance at extension programs, advisor to the Cornell Mushroom Club, and supervisor of the MacDaniel’s Nut Grove study and Teaching Forest. The attention is surprisingly big I would say it is quickly growing.